By the end of this lesson you'll be able to say where things and places are: on, under, in front of, behind, between, next to, opposite, near and far.
Two kinds of preposition
A preposition is a small word that shows where something is. French has two kinds, and the difference matters when you put them before le and les.
To say where something is, you'll use est for one thing and sont for several. You've seen them both already.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| est / sont | eh / sohn | is / are |
| Où est… ? | oo EH | Where is…? |
The simple ones
These five go directly before the article, and the article doesn't change.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| sur | sewr | on |
| sous | soo | under |
| devant | duh-VAHN | in front of |
| derrière | deh-RYEHR | behind |
| entre | AHN-truh | between |
Le stylo est sur le livre.
The pen is on the book.
Les clés sont sous le journal.
The keys are under the newspaper.
L'arrêt de bus est devant la mairie.
The bus stop is in front of the town hall.
La librairie est derrière l'église.
The bookshop is behind the church.
Entre needs two things, joined with et: entre la poste et la gare (between the post office and the station).
The ones ending in de
These four all end in de. That means they follow the rule from the lesson on à and de with articles: de melts together with le and les, and it stays separate from la and l'.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| à côté de | ah koh-TAY duh | next to |
| en face de | ahn FAHSS duh | opposite |
| près de | preh duh | near |
| loin de | lwan duh | far from |
| Before | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| le | du | à côté du marché |
| la | de la | à côté de la mairie |
| l' | de l' | à côté de l'hôpital |
| les | des | à côté des magasins |
Use the places from the lesson on places in town to practise.
La banque est en face de la poste.
The bank is opposite the post office.
L'hôtel est près du parc.
The hotel is near the park.
Le supermarché est loin de l'école.
The supermarket is far from the school.
With a person's or a town's name, there's no article, so nothing changes: près de Paul, loin de Paris. And de becomes d' before a vowel: près d'Orléans.
Asking where
To ask where something is, the simplest question is Où est… ? For more than one thing, say Où sont… ? You can answer with just the place, which is what most people do.
- Où est la pharmacie ? — À côté de la banque. (Where's the chemist's? — Next to the bank.)
- Où sont les clés ? — Sur la table. (Where are the keys? — On the table.)
Opposites
Several of these prepositions come in natural pairs of opposites, so it helps to look at them side by side.
- sur and sous
- devant and derrière
- près de and loin de
Be careful with sur and sous. They look similar but mean the opposite, and the vowel is different. For sur, your lips are rounded and pushed forward. For sous, the sound is the same as in vous.
Putting it together
Here's someone explaining the layout of a small town square.
- La boulangerie est à côté de la pharmacie. (The bakery is next to the chemist's.)
- La mairie est entre la poste et l'église. (The town hall is between the post office and the church.)
- Le parking est derrière la mairie. (The car park is behind the town hall.)
- Et l'arrêt de bus est en face du marché. (And the bus stop is opposite the market.)
What's next
Next, the lesson on asking for directions uses these words to help you find your way around a town. It also adds phrases like "turn left" and "go straight on".